The Festival of Faith and Music just happened last weekend at Calvin College. What an event! As a cultural discerner (a.k.a. "c.d." - we are mentored by the directors of Student Activities), I got to work the festival, which meant meeting a lot of smart, great people. I learned so much and had so much fun!
Friday afternoon, I went to a workshop with the Psalters where they discussed and critiqued the differences between mainstream American worship music and worship music by oppressed peoples.
Then, that afternoon, I got to eat dinner with the staff and the presenters and performers, and I got to meet a new friend, John Ringhofer (Half-handed Cloud). He and I have been communicating through MySpace over the past seven months, so it was nice to finally make a face-to-face connection with him.
And of course, the Anathallo and Sufjan Stevens concert was Friday night! What a show! Anathallo had the Central Michigan University Brass Choir play with them, and Sufjan's show (which was filmed for his concert d.v.d.) involved lots of inflatable Supermen and Santa Clauses. Boy, does that man tell some hilarious stories! They're perfect. And, of course, both bands were mind-blowing, and face-melting.
Saturday I worked the registration table in the morning and had a veggie-burger lunch with John, followed by an interview which I will use for an article I'm writing about H-hC for Uncompressed, a magazine that the c.d.'s put out. That was lovely.
Afterward, I spoke with some of the guys from Anathallo, and found out that they knew my cousin David from high school (Matt, the lead singer, used to "build half-pipes" with him back in their skater days).
I also hosted Adam Smith, managing editor of Relevant Magazine, who was so pleasant. He had a lot of good things to say about what Relevant is doing, and even though they got some flack this weekend, there are some good things going on there.
Lenny Smith (patriarch of the Danielson Famile) gave a great lecture about living not as if the Kingdom of God will come, but as if the Kingdom of God is already here. My favorite quote from him: "All that dirt those rapture people want to leave behind? I'll own it!"
All in all, it was an amazing weekend. I am so appreciative to have been a part of this, and I feel like I could have spent the next month in ffm mode, meeting and talking with so many wise, funny, and kind people!
Okay. Well, this is my first blog (at least here on blogspot), and I think it's going well so far ... I guess I'll start with my purpose behind all this.
This will be a place for me to share my thoughts, and to hopefully keep in touch with my loved ones from far-away. Also, I hope to have some meaningful reflections to share, and maybe even some lessons I'm learning as I grow.
Which brings me to the inspiration behind the title of this blog: There is a song by Half-handed Cloud called (you guessed it) "We Don't Know How it Grows," and I've been listening to it a lot lately because it is a relateable, important, and yet easy-to-forget message that I think I should try harder to remember. Also, I feel like I recently read the Bible passage that H-hC took this from, but I can't remember it for the life of me. If I find it, I will add it here.
Here are the lyrics. I wish I could post the song for you to listen to, because the music is quite fitting. Too bad.
If a man should scatter seed upon the ground And then to sleep by night And rise by day Then the seed should sprout and grow But he himself he does not know Just how it got that way
The kingdom of God We don't know how it grows Nobody knows
The kingdom of God We don't know how it grows Only He knows
What I should compare it to A mustard seed so small it grew Into the largest tree What should it be likened to? Some leaven hidden deep inside of meal Measured three
The kingdom of God We don't know how it grows Nobody knows
The kingdom of God We don't know how it grows Only He knows
The kingdom of God We don't know how it grows
Grows Only He knows
And then the seed should sprout and grow But he, himself, he does not know Just how it got that way